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Articles By Rob Doster

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Justin Rose is the most technical player in golf, and ordinarily that makes for a good swing on video but a lack of results on the course. The problem, typically, is that those who never stop tinkering never start believing. But somewhere along the way, Justin found belief. His swing doesn't just look good on video; it produces and stands up to intense pressure, as it did on the Sunday of last year’s U.S. Open back nine. He has become so good tee-to-green that he can break holes apart, find specific portions of fairways and greens, and with the exception of being an average putter, is well supported in every other aspect of his game.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

The perception is that Dustin's putting has held him back, and that once he starts draining more putts, the sky's the limit. While that may be true to an extent — Johnson ranked 117th on Tour in 2013 in Strokes Gained, Putting — his stroke has allowed him to convert a staggering number of eagles (12 in 71 rounds in 2013) and birdies (25th on Tour in birdie average in 2013). And his putting has been vastly improved this season; entering The Masters, he ranks 19th on Tour in Strokes Gained, Putting, and his slow, smooth stroke seems tailor-made for Augusta's lightning-fast greens. As with his full swing, Johnson's putting stroke hinges on tempo.

My putting stroke is longer and slower than many players out here. Like with the full swing, rhythm is very important, and a longer, slower putting stroke helps me maintain rhythm.

My tendency is to have my hands forward at address, but we've worked hard to keep the putter at a 90-degree angle to my body. I do have a little trigger right before the takeaway where I flex my hands forward slightly, but at address, the putter is at 90 degrees.

Butch Harmon says:

Dustin has done a nice job with his putting. He has an unusual putting stroke — it's very slow, smooth and rhythmic.

Guys like me who grew up on slow greens use a short pop stroke, but for Dustin, his long, rhythmic putting stroke is very effective on the fast greens that he faces on Tour.

I like him to keep his putter at a 90-degree angle relative to his body.

He also uses very light grip pressure — maybe a 3 on a scale of 1-10. Most amateurs grip it much harder.

The green jacket traveled the world in the past year, and it is difficult to find a Masters champion who reveled in his victory and wanted to share it with total strangers more than Adam Scott.

In becoming the first Australian to win the coveted green jacket, Scott fully embraced the overwhelming joy that came with his victory when he traveled back Down Under, spending the rest of the year in full celebratory mode while also establishing himself as a major player for the foreseeable future.

It is unlikely that former Masters winners will be treated to Outback bloomin’ onions when Scott hosts the annual Champions Dinner — let’s be honest, true Aussies are not big fans of the American restaurant chain. But they do love their golf Down Under and have been heartbroken at the near-misses of their mates on this glorious stage, none more prominent than Greg Norman, who three times suffered excruciating defeats in the Augusta pines.

“He inspired a nation of golfers,” said Scott, tearing up at the mention of a mentor to many Aussie golfers. “Most of us would feel that he could have slipped a green jacket on for sure.”

Of course, with Scott winning The Masters, there would be links to the past, to be remembered afresh with a new major season just around the corner.Steve Williams, Scott’s caddie, once worked for the Shark, and he played a key role in the victory, helping with the 10th-hole playoff read in near darkness, telling Scott to play more break on what would be the winning putt to defeat Angel Cabrera.

Williams was Tiger Woods’ longtime caddie and was on the bag three times for Woods victories at Augusta National.

The last came in 2005, nine long years ago.

Scott went on to have a stellar season, winning late in the year on the PGA Tour, then twice in Australia in addition to being part of a World Cup victory for his homeland at Royal Melbourne. His four worldwide victories helped him close the gap on Woods in the Official World Golf Ranking as 2014 began.

In sizing up his year’s work in the four biggest tournaments, Scott could only be pleased. And that is the beauty of winning one of golf’s most prestigious events. It doesn’t make the close calls any easier to take, but it does present them in a different light. Scott had three top-five finishes in major championships in 2013, which makes for a particularly excellent record when one of them is a victory.

“It’s really satisfying," Scott says. “Obviously the goal was to win one, but the real goal is to put myself in this position a lot more.

“At some point (in the 2013 majors), I think I led every major during the week. Obviously I’m peaking at the right times. It’s hard to stay there for four days and have the lead the whole time, but I feel like I’m improving still. So it’s something to build on for (the 2014) season."

Scott was among 13 players who made the cut in all four major championships and, along with fellow Aussie Jason Day, led the way with an aggregate of 2-over par for 16 major championship rounds. Of course, Scott’s Masters win makes for a nice tiebreaker in assessing the best major season.

“I was a lot over (par) at the U.S. Open," said Scott, who finished 45th at the only major in which he was not a Sunday contender. “That means I’m playing really good in the others. I think I was cumulative low (in 2012) as well in the four majors (he was top 15 in all four). If that’s the case, I’m doing something right. I wish it added up to more than one win in eight, but I’m going to try and do all the right things between now and April and go back and try and defend and try and get into contention again."

"Obviously the goal was to win one, but the real goal is to put myself in this position a lot more."

Since the start of the 2009 season, Scott has nine top-15 finishes in major championships, including a win and two runners-up. He has often said that his crushing defeat to Ernie Els at the 2012 Open Championship offered up more positives than negatives.

Still, the country’s inability to win at Augusta had become something of a sore spot, with Norman’s heartbreaks cited at every turn.

“It’s amazing that it’s my destiny to be the first Aussie to win, just incredible," Scott said.

“It is fantastic to see him win," said Norman, who watched the telecast from his Florida home. “I believed in him. His ball-striking is probably better than anybody else’s on the planet. A lot of focus goes to the other players because he hasn’t put the credentials on the board or the runs on the board. But at the end of the day, just to watch the way he performed down the stretch, his intensity.

“Everybody questioned whether he had the intestinal fortitude, the go-get-it, but we all knew it. The players knew it. He’s got the game to do it, and I was just extremely happy for him."

Given his recent history in majors, and his form over the last several months, would anybody be surprised to see Scott keep that jacket for another year?

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Henrik Stenson won three times last September and November, and he will no doubt pick up in the 2014 majors where he left off, because his swing is as technically sound as there is in the game. His coach, Pete Cowen, has not given in to the trend to flatten his backswing and round off his follow-through, and as a result his ball flight is high, solid and powerful. That's a rare combination in professional golf; as more and more players default to control swings, ball flights have come down and so have spin rates, making it harder to get at tough pins on firm greens. If he adds to his repertoire a deft touch from inside 125 yards, he will be the complete player.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Jason Day is the world’s best putter on fast, treacherous greens. Period. This explains why he consistently pops up on the leaderboards in majors; having played in only 13 in his career, he has six top tens and four finishes of third or better. In 2013 he averaged 28.68 putts per round at the four biggest events, and this combined with his length off of the tee and a wonderful attitude make him one of the most exciting players to watch in golf. One of the nicest guys in golf too, Day might just have one of the nicest resumes in 2014.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Sergio Garcia's presence on leaderboards has been as unpredictable as the bounce of a football, but in recent years, the source of most of his anguish — poor putting — has been eradicated, and he is now one of the best in the world on the greens. Subsequently, as evidenced by his bounce back stat of 4th in 2013, he is more resilient, and a more resilient Sergio is a threat to win anywhere. He has come agonizingly close in the game’s biggest events, with 18 career top tens in the majors, and this year’s venues — most notably at Pinehurst for the U.S. Open and Hoylake at The Open Championship, where he finished third in 2005 and played in the final group with Tiger in 2006 — set up well for him. A major win, finally, for Sergio in 2014 would not surprise me.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Dustin Johnson has won eight times on the PGA tour before the age of 30 and in addition could've easily won two or three major championships. So obscene is his talent, he could easily end up in the Hall of Fame, but he is not higher on this list because he has historically underperformed his talent level, for a variety of reasons. Now that the game seems to have his full attention, he has ours.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

We don’t have footage of Gene Sarazen’s famous double eagle from 1935, but on Masters Sunday 2012, we saw something just as good and just as rare — Louis Oosthuizen's double eagle, the first at the par-5 second hole in Masters history. Later, Bubba Watson joined our countdown with his stunning recovery shot from the pine straw in the playoff. Here are our choices for the seven greatest shots in Masters history.

7. Louis Oosthuizen, 2012Before Sunday 2012, there had been 19,809 rounds at The Masters, but this was a first: a double eagle at No. 2. Had Oostie gone on to win, his shot would rank No. 1; as it is, he'll have to settle for second in The 2012 Masters and seventh on our list.

6. Sandy Lyle, 1988Lyle had a front-row seat for Jack Nicklaus' charge to the 1986 Masters title. Two years later, he made history of his own with an incredible bunker shot on the 72nd hole, using the slope of the green to set up a clinching birdie. This is great execution for a Tuesday practice round; under Masters pressure, it's one of history's greatest shots.

5. Bubba Watson, 2012After a day that included a double eagle and two holes in one, Bubba's shot at 10 will be the one they'll still be talking about at the 2050 Champions Dinner.

4. Jack Nicklaus, 1986Jack’s near hole-in-one on 16 during his final-round 65 was only one of many magic moments that day — but it was pretty epic.

3. Phil Mickelson, 2010Mickelson’s 6-iron second shot to four feet on the par-5 13th was the kind of hero shot that only he and Tiger Woods would even attempt.

2. Larry Mize, 1987Playing a few miles from his home, the quiet, unassuming Mize hit the shot of his life, or anyone else’s for that matter, holing an impossible 140-foot pitch shot on the second playoff hole to deny Greg Norman a green jacket.

1. Tiger Woods, 2005It's a scenario apparently drawn up in the Nike marketing offices — the ball hanging tantalizingly on the edge of the cup, the Nike logo momentarily freeze-framed on our television screens before the ball tumbles into the cup, unleashing an awkward golfer high-five between Tiger and caddie Steve Williams that detracts only slightly from the moment. To answer your question, Verne Lundquist — no, in our lives, we’ve never seen anything like it.

Consider this the appetizer before the main course. We scoured The Masters record book and found these amazing numbers:

10 The record for consecutive under-par rounds at The Masters belongs to Tiger Woods, who shot 10 consecutive rounds under par from the third round in 2000 through the final round in 2002. Not surprisingly, he won the green jacket in 2001 and 2002, after finishing fifth in 2000. Tiger's scoring average for those 10 rounds was 68.5.

25 Phil Mickelson holds the record for most birdies in a single Masters, with 25 in 2001. Lefty finished 13-under that year, three shots behind winner Tiger Woods, who was able to muster only 23 birdies for the week.

37 Among many Masters records held by Jack Nicklaus is his astounding 37 cuts made at Augusta. That's especially remarkable when you consider that Tiger Woods has only been alive 38 years. Between 1960 and 2000, Jack played in 40 Masters, missing the cut twice (in 1967 and 1994) and withdrawing in 1983. Among Nicklaus' other Masters records: He won a record six Masters, was runner-up a record four times, and he finished in the top 5 a record 15 times, in the top 10 22 times, and in the top 25 29 times.

23 Gary Player and Fred Couples share the record with 23 consecutive made cuts at The Masters. Player didn't miss a cut between 1959 and 1982 (he didn't compete in 1973 due to illness). During that span, he won three times and finished in the top 10 15 times. Couples' streak ran from 1983 to 2008, although he didn't play in 1987 or 1994.

50 Arnold Palmer holds a record that will likely never be equaled, playing in 50 consecutive Masters from 1955 to 2004. Thankfully, the King is still a fixture in April at Augusta, hitting a ceremonial tee shot along with fellow legends Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

66 That's the record score for a "Senior" player (age 50 or above). Fred Couples shot a 66 at age 50 in 2010's first round; and Ben Hogan, long past his prime at age 54, shot a 66 in the third round in 1967, going on to finish tied for 10th in his final Masters appearace.

66 The lowest score by an amateur was a 66 by Ken Venturi, in 1956's first round. Venturi actually held a four-shot lead entering the final round and was in prime position to become the only amateur winner in the event's history, until a windswept final-round 80 left him one shot behind Jack Burke.

-12 The lowest total by a first-time Masters competitor was a 12-under 276 in 2011 by Jason Day, who finished tied for second, two shots behind Charl Schwartzel.

6 The largest lead lost after three rounds is Greg Norman's 1996 collapse from a six-stroke lead to a five-stroke loss to Nick Faldo following a final-round 78. Coming off the eighth green on that Masters Sunday, Norman was only 1-over par for the day and still held a three-shot lead over Faldo. But three bogeys and two double-bogeys down the stretch doomed Norman to the most painful failure of his star-crossed career.

0 Fred Couples won the 1992 Masters, but here's an interesting distinction for Boom-Boom: He's the only player to have never missed a Masters cut in the 20th Century. Couples first played in the tournament in 1983 and didn't miss a Masters weekend until 2008.

The Masters is the world's greatest golf tournament, so it's not surprising that it has produced an elite list of champions. We've identified the 10 greatest, who collectively possess 32 Green Jackets and have provided countless classic moments.

1. Jack NicklausWins - 6Runner-ups - 4Top 5 - 15Top 10 - 22Notes: Nobody owns Augusta like Jack. His six wins spanned 23 years of stunning brilliance. In the decade of the 1970s, he never finished lower than 8th. As if to put an exclamation point on his unparalleled career amid the Georgia pines, Jack made one final run in 1998 at age 58, finishing sixth and beating the defending champion, 22-year-old Tiger Woods. Here's a record that may never be broken: Nicklaus made an astounding 37 cuts at Augusta; for reference, Woods has been alive only 37 years.

2. Arnold PalmerWins - 4Runner-ups - 2Top 5 - 9Top 10 - 12Notes: Arnie came along at the perfect time, the dawn of golf's TV age, and he galvanized an army of fans with his domination at Augusta. Between 1957 and 1967, Palmer won four times and finished in the top 10 every year. He eclipses the No. 3 player on this list only because he made The Masters what it is today.

3. Tiger WoodsWins - 4Runner-ups - 2Top 5 - 10Top 10 - 12Notes: Woods' 12-shot demolition of the field at the 1997 Masters was one of golf's signature moments and ushered in the Tiger era in golf. His epic chip-in in 2005 was another classic moment, although that remains his last green jacket to date. Tiger is the all-time scoring average leader at The Masters for players with 50 or more career rounds.

4. Phil MickelsonWins - 3Runner-ups - 0Top 5 - 10Top 10 - 14Notes: Lefty's record at Augusta rivals Tiger's. His 2004 breakthrough was perhaps the most eagerly awaited major championship win in history. Phil still has a shot to move up this list given that he's finished out of the top 5 only four times since 2001 and always seems rejuvenated by the trip up Magnolia Lane.

5. Gary PlayerWins - 3Runner-ups - 2Top 5 - 8Top 10 - 15Notes: Player made his Masters bones in the 1960s as part of golf's Big Three with Nicklaus and Palmer, but he had some of his greatest Augusta moments in the 1970s, winning in 1974 and charging from seven strokes back in the final round in 1978, shooting 64 to win at age 42.

7. Ben HoganWins - 2Runner-ups - 4Top 5 - 9Top 10 - 17Notes: The great Hogan set a Masters record during his Triple Crown season of 1953 with a 14-under total (it would be broken by Jack Nicklaus in 1965), part of an unparalleled run of golf in which he won six majors in eight appearances. In 1967, at age 56, he shot a 66 and finished 10th. His 17 Masters top 10s are second only to Nicklaus' 22.

8. Tom WatsonWins - 2Runner-ups - 3Top 5 - 9Top 10 - 15Notes: Watson's Augusta exploits are overshadowed by his dominance at the British Open, but between 1975 and 1988, no one was better at The Masters — two wins, three runner-ups and 12 top-10 finishes.

10. Byron NelsonWins - 2Runner-ups - 2Top 5 - 7Top 10 - 14Notes: Lord Byron's love for The Masters was epitomized by the fact that he kept playing at Augusta even after retiring from competitive golf to run his ranch. He probably would have won one or two more Green Jackets had the tournament been held during World War II.

Honorable Mention• Nick Faldo - A three-time Masters winner, Faldo gets penalized for benefiting from three meltdowns in his three Masters wins — Scott Hoch, who missed a two-foot putt in their playoff in 1989; Ray Floyd, who made a late bogey to fall into a playoff with Faldo and then hit into the water at 11 in Sudden Death; and most notoriously, Greg Norman, who squandered a six-shot lead over Faldo with a final-round 78. Plus, Faldo's three wins were his only Masters top 10s.

• Seve Ballesteros - The late, great Ballesteros won twice and finished second twice. He also had the decency to step aside and allow Nicklaus to charge to his sixth Green Jacket in 1986.

• Horton Smith - The event's first two-time winner, Smith won Green Jackets in 1934 (the tournament's first year) and 1936.

• Ben Crenshaw - Crenshaw's Masters win in 1994, shortly after the death of longtime mentor Harvey Penick, provided one of the most emotional moments in golf history. Crenshaw, a two-time winner, finished in the top 10 11 times.

• Jose Maria Olazabal - Less heralded than his countryman Seve Ballesteros, Olazabal was every bit Seve's equal at Augusta, winning in 1994 and 1999 and finishing the top 10 six other times.

• Bernhard Langer - Langer had his greatest major success at The Masters, winning twice and posting eight top 10s.

• Fred Couples - Couples made 23 consecutive Masters cuts between 1983 and 2008, although he didn't play in 1987 or 1994. He's the only Masters competitor not to miss a cut at Augusta in the 20th Century. He won the tournament in 1992.

• Gene Sarazen - His "Shot Heard Round the World" — a double eagle at 15 during the 1935 Masters — put the tournament on the map and helped establish its major bona fides. It also allowed Sarazen to claim a modern career Grand Slam, the first in history.

• Raymond Floyd - Floyd won the 1976 Masters by a dominating eight strokes, matching Nicklaus' record 17-under total (which would be broken by Woods in 1997). Floyd finished second at Augusta three times, including a crushingly disappointing playoff loss to Nick Faldo in 1990, and had 11 top-10 finishes.

It's one of the great traditions of Masters week: the Tuesday night Champions Dinner, where the defending champ gets to pick the menu for everyone. Defending champion Adam Scott of Australia probably won't break out the bloomin' onions; in fact, the word is that he's serving an Australian lobster known as a "Moreton Bay Bug." Okay. Obviously, giving golfers this much latitude can result in some stomach-churning choices. Here's the proof.

Menu: Haggis, mashed potatoes, mashed turnipsSandy Lyle, 1989

You know what they say about haggis — it looks the same coming out as it does going in. For the uninitiated, this Scottish dish is basically stuff fished out of the trash at the butcher shop: sheep's heart, liver and lungs cooked in the stomach, with a few bits of actual food (onions, oatmeal, spices) thrown in to confuse you.

Menu: Elk, wild boar, Arctic char, Canadian beerMike Weir, 2004

Apparently they were fresh out of grizzly bear, so this had to do. Well, at least there was a little liquid bread to wash down all the animal flesh. Hey Mike, how about a salad?

Sampling another culture's cuisine can be a mixed bag. This menu is evidence. Short ribs and beef filets sound good, but anything with blood in the title doesn't. And sweetbreads? That's just a tasty-sounding name for the thymus gland of some animal. No. Just, no.

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Brandt Snedeker has finished third and fifth, respectively, the last two years on the money list, and has two wins in each of those seasons. Had he not been sidelined with an injury for a period in 2013, he might have challenged for the money title as well as the FedExCup. From 50-125 yards, he was the best on Tour last year and continues to enjoy tremendous success on the greens as well. A streaky player because he struggles tee-to-green periodically, he is unfazed by miscues and continues to play decisively, which makes him fun to watch and also makes him better than the sum of his statistics.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

Given his 300-plus-yard bombs off the tee, Dustin Johnson has a wedge in his hands quite often, so improving the accuracy of his wedge game has been an important factor in his success. As Butch Harmon says, "He has tremendous self confidence with the driver — he just needed to clean up the looseness with the short irons." That "cleaning up" started with shortening the swing. Here, Dustin explains his thought process with a wedge in his hands.

My swing on my wedge shots has definitely gotten a lot shorter, a little more compact. Forme, the wedge game is really important, I hit a lot of wedges, so if I'm wedging it well, I'm playing well.

It all starts with driving it in the fairway, of course.

Once I'm in the fairway with a wedge in my hands, controlling the flight really helps me with my distance and helps me get the ball close to the hole. I like to hit wedges with a lower trajectory; I don't like to hit it way up in the air. Obviously there are certain situations where you have to hit it up in the air, but for a normal shot, I hit it lower, because I feel like I have more control.Most of the time I want to draw it two or three yards. My natural swing produces a draw, but you do have to hit it a little bit from the inside so that it will start just right of your target. Hitting a little draw is a good way for amateurs to learn to hit the ball and picture the golf swing, because it gives you better distance control and corrects some common flaws.

Butch Harmon says:

DJ's wedge game was inconsistent because his swing was too long. We've worked to make it a wider, shorter swing that accelerates through the ball. In other words, we've made it a mini version of the full swing. He's worked very hard on it.

Even while winning 79 PGA Tour events and 14 majors, Tiger Woods has suffered an alarming litany of injuries, to the point that we have to wonder whether he’ll ever be truly healthy again. Tiger announced today that he would miss The Masters, where he's a four-time champion, after surgery to correct a pinched nerve in his back.

"After attempting to get ready for The Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided, in consultation with my doctors, to have this procedure done," Woods said in a statement.The statement went on to add that he would be undergoing "intensive rehabilitation and soft-tissue treatment" within a week, and that he hopes to return to competition "sometime this summer."

On the occasion of his latest malady, we present a breakdown of many (but not all) of the well-known injuries that have befallen Woods — and this doesn’t include anything that may or may not have happened to his face on that fateful Thanksgiving night in 2009. Not to mention the injuries to his pride, reputation and self-esteem.

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Jason Dufner would have a greater chance to win more tournaments if course set-ups weren't biased toward television ratings. Giving in to the excitement of the slash-and-gouge world that golf has drifted towards, courses are more democratic, and so Jason’s genius for finding fairways and greens is underappreciated — except for major weeks, where, for the most part, severe penalties still exist for tee-to-green inconsistencies. Look for him at The Open Championship and to offer a good defense of his PGA Championship title.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2014 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 30 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

Rory McIlroy had a lot of distractions in 2013. In changing equipment, it is best to change one thing at a time so that one can control the variables and can point the finger at the exact cause for any fall-off or gain in form. Rory changed clubs and balls, and while his ball-striking only fell off negligibly from the year before, his game fell off sharply. Perhaps it was the equipment adjustment, or perhaps it was the lawsuit brought on by a management change; regardless of the cause, he wasn't the player who won two majors by eight shots. However, towards the end of the year, he showed signs that he was more settled in his life and his game. The one thing he didn't change was his swing. Good thing. In grace and power there is no equal to Rory’s move, and with the equipment changes behind him and the lawsuit winding down, he can go back to building what may well be, when he is through playing, one of the great careers in history.

Athlon's 2014 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 30 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, Dustin Johnson, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.